Travelling is as much about meeting people as it is about seeing places and learning about new countries and cultures. The backpacking circuit is especially interesting as people are eager to be friendly, make contacts, relax and have fun. But who are these people? Is there a link (apart from the Lonely Planet ´South America on a shoe string´2005 edition) that holds us together as a band of brothers? Well, no. But from what I have seen - there are certainly distinct categories of travellers who you find in every hostel dormitory, cheap diner and overnight bus.
Click below for to read on.....
The categories:
1) Career avoiders
This group can be split into 2. The first group includes people usually in their mid-twenties who have finished some form of formal education and have time off to travel before entering the real world of time sheets, late running trains and annual leave application forms. These people are usually from Europe, America or Australia, from middle-class backgrounds and enjoy flashpacking to a greater degree than others. I neatly fit into this category.
The other group involves CHRONIC career avoiders. These people are aged anywhere from 35 to 101 and make the same jokes about travel being their career. They can usually be spotted in a crowd of twenty-something year olds as they try to dance with all the girls with their ´funky´ grooves and moves. They are awesome sources of information and often start conversations with things like ¨and then there was that time when I worked at a pig farm in Equatorial Guinea - I can give you the name of the owner if you want...¨
2) Hard-core trekkers
Dont mess with these people. They only carry the bare essentials (which apparently does not include a hair-dryer) and the latest trekking gear (complete with helmet, trekking sticks, wet weather gear and guarana bars). They are in bed by 9pm and up at the crack of dawn. They smell.
3) Party boys/girls
These people are usually from Europe who travel, well, because they can. Their currency kicks dirt in the faces of all others and they know it. They are usually out here for 2-4 weeks and have very little idea of where exactly they are, what there is to see and why it is important to see it. Their day usually begins at about 5pm when they might go to get something to eat, then relax by the pool and then start to drink the bar dry. Their spanish is limited to ¨una cerveza, por favor¨ (one beer please) and whatever else it takes to flirt with a local. They are fun and good value.
4) Israelis
They are everywhere. Some hostels and restaurants dont even bother to write signs in Spanish or English - just Hebrew. They travel because they have been in the army and cant bear to go to university straight away. They too are very good sources for cost-efficient tips for anything from accomodation to laundry and the best ways to cook your own food. They are good for a laugh and are very good story tellers.
5) Disillusioned people
These are people who sleep in the dorm for the whole day and then only awake to read a book on the verandah. Nothing seems to impress them and they can always tell you a place where you can get the same thing cheaper and better. They snigger at CNN world news and wear Che Gueverra t-shirts all the time. They make fun of tourists - even though tourists are the only people they hang around. They are good conversationalists. They are bad inspirationalists.
6) On the rebound-ers
These are mainly thirty-something year old men who are recovering from either a failed first marriage or a long-term relationship. They wear trendy clothes and are generally very charismatic and friendly. Every story they tell has some link to their ex-wife/girlfriend even though they assure you that they are ready to ´move on´. They know the names of all the cool clubs and pubs. They are down with the latest music and will always be the last to leave the club.
7) UK kids
These are kids fresh out of high school who are completing their GAP year touring south america. They are sweet, extremely optimistic and are all en route to Australia. Anything you tell them genuinely startles them.
8) Australians and New Zealanders
Absolutely everywhere - usually from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Very relaxed people, happy-go-lucky and keen to help out other aussies and kiwis. We are bitter about the value of the aussie dollar and will always share the vegemite at breakfast time.
9) The get-up-and-goers
These are mainly girls in their twenties and early thirties who want to make the world a better place and actually do something about it. They know about 5 different languages, are enrolled in some spanish course in Ecuador so they can also be fluent in Espanol, have volunteered in women´s projects in the Amazonian Basin and plan to set up their own project somewhere else. They are very driven, very passionate and generally make you feel very terrible about yourself.
10) The ´why are YOU staying in a hostel´kind of people
These are people who pleasantly surprise you by roughing it out in hostel accommodation when they could very easily be staying at the Sheraton. Whilst staying at the Milhouse hostel in Buenos Aires we met a lovely English couple in their late sixties who told us that hostels are the only place they will stay because ¨its fun¨ and ¨why shouldnt they?¨ Fair enough. They were really cool, really active and mingled with all the young ones every night. Lovely people who have changed my perception of age and its boundaries.
Posted by Tanya at May 9, 2005 06:37 PM